Latest news with #LucHoltz
Morocco World
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Morocco World
Luxembourg vs Republic of Ireland: When, How to Watch & Score Prediction
The Republic of Ireland are set to face off against Luxembourg in their second international friendly. Ireland head to Stade de Luxembourg tonight with cautious optimism. Their recent form is on the up, unbeaten in three and scoring five in that stretch. A draw against Senegal last time out felt harsh, having led for over an hour and limited the opposition to just one big chance. They'll be aiming for a repeat of their last meeting with Luxembourg – a 3-0 win back in 2021. That result feels within reach again, given the hosts' current form. Luc Holtz's side have lost their last two matches and managed just five goals in their last 11 outings. Defensively, they've not fared much better, winning only once in their last five home games and conceding regularly. Up front, the Red Lions are expected to start Gerson Rodrigues, Brian Madjo and Florian Bohnert. Midfielders Danel Sinani and Leandro Barreiro will look to dictate the tempo, with Tomas de Sousa Moreira providing support behind the front three. Ireland's XI is likely to remain familiar. Caoimhin Kelleher starts in goal, with Nathan Collins leading the backline. Will Smallbone and Jason Knight should resume their midfield partnership, while Adam Idah will spearhead the attack flanked by Jack Taylor and Ryan Manning. The visitors have their defensive frailties – 18 goals conceded in their last 10 – and Luxembourg might fancy their chances of nicking one. But on the balance of form and quality, Ireland are the more polished outfit. Their recent run and a bit of added grit should see them through. Kick-off is at 7:45 p.m. Moroccan time (GMT+1) and fans can catch the action live on Fibo and Vix. MWN says: Luxembourg 1-3 Republic of Ireland Tags: friendlyIrelandLuxembourg
Irish Times
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Is Luxembourg's extended wait to qualify for a big tournament about to end?
If Winston Churchill was correct to observe that 'success consists of going from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm' then Luxembourg deserve to be red hot favourites to win the 2026 World Cup. Ireland and Luxembourg are two of only three countries to have participated in all 21 Fifa World Cup qualifying campaigns with only Luxembourg failing to qualify every single time. Luxembourg have never qualified for the European Championships either, coming close in 2024 when they received a record 17 points in qualifying despite being thrashed 9-0 and 6-0 by group-topping Portugal. Their performance in the Nations League gave Luxembourg a play-off spot. And the possibility of qualifying for a major tournament for the first time in their 112-year footballing history created such excitement that all 9,300 tickets to the Stade de Luxembourg sold out in minutes. There was, however, one slight catch. The potential play-off final was dependent on Luxembourg winning a semi-final away to Georgia five days earlier, which they lost 2-0. READ MORE Luxembourg manager Luc Holtz is the second-longest-serving national coach in Europe, earning promotion from managing the under-21 team in August 2010. Holtz will view playing Ireland as a perfect final warm-up for September when Luxembourg host Northern Ireland in their opening World Cup 2026 qualifier. In September 2013, Luxembourg beat Northern Ireland 3-2, securing a first home victory in a World Cup qualifier for over 40 years. Holtz has even happier memories of facing the Republic of Ireland, whose qualification campaign for the 2022 World Cup began (and in reality ended) with a 1-0 defeat to Luxembourg at an empty Aviva Stadium thanks to a late Gerson Rodrigues goal. In November 2021, Ireland won the return fixture 3-0 in their only previous visit to the Stade de Luxembourg. Sitting on the Luxembourg bench that day was goalkeeper Timothy Martin, who now plays for Cobh Ramblers in the League of Ireland First Division and who has played for the Red Lions at under-21 level. Luxembourg head coach Luc Holtz is the second-longest-serving national coach in Europe. Photograph: Getty Images Despite being his country's record goal scorer the inclusion of Rodrigues in Holtz's squad to face Ireland is hugely controversial, as in April the Luxembourg court of appeal upheld an 18-month suspended prison sentence imposed on him for domestic violence and assault. Unfortunately, the greatest player to ever represent the Grand Duchy never won a senior cap for them. Former Barcelona and Juventus star Miralem Pjanić spent much of his childhood in Luxembourg playing for them at under-17 and under-19 before declaring for Bosnia & Herzegovina. A recent, more complicated tug of war was fought over Ryan Johansson, who was born in Luxembourg to an Irish mother and a Swedish father and represented all three countries in international age-group football. In 2021, Johansson played five times for the Ireland under-21 side, with his last cap coming in a 1-1 draw away to Luxembourg in a Euro qualifier. However, the former Bayern Munich prodigy is not expected to win a senior cap anytime soon, playing for SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the third tier of German football. The recent performances of Luxembourg teams in European club competitions have risen dramatically from an exceptionally low base. In 1971, FC Jeunesse Hautcharage lost 21-0 on aggregate to Chelsea in the first round of the European Cup Winners' Cup. A year later, Feyenoord matched the West Londoners' feat, defeating another Luxembourg side Rumelange 21-0 on aggregate in the Uefa Cup. More than half a century later, these remain record European defeats. Things were much closer in 2015 when UCD secured their first (and only) European victory, beating F91 Dudelange. This created such excitement on campus that Kevin Burke wrote One Night in Dudelange, surely the only book written about a Europa League first qualifying round tie. UCD vs F91 Dudelange: UCD's Ryan Swan celebrates his goal in July 2015. Photograph: Gary Carr UCD won 1-0 at Belfield before advancing on away goals after losing 2-1 in Dudelange. UCD were the last side ever to qualify for Europe through Fair Play, but ironically had to play the majority of the return in Luxembourg with only 10 men after receiving an early red card. UCD's historic victory was celebrated across Irish soccer with a former Cork City chairman suggesting: 'They'll be dancing in the streets of the Applied Physics lab tonight.' Unsurprisingly, a less enthusiastic view was taken in Luxembourg, with one newspaper headline declaring that UCD stood for Une Catastrophe Dudelange. F91 Dudelange overcame the disappointment of being eliminated from Europe by a team of students, becoming the first side from Luxembourg to reach the group stage of the Europa League in 2018, where they hosted AC Milan in their opening match. F91 Dudelange finally got their revenge on the League of Ireland in 2023 when they defeated St Patrick's Athletic 5-3 on aggregate in the Europa Conference League. Crucial to Luxembourg's huge improvement in recent years is having a nucleus of key players starting regularly for leading clubs across Europe. Danel Sinani plays for St Pauli, having previously represented Norwich City and Huddersfield Town. Record cap holder and long-term captain Laurent Jans plays with SK Beveren. However, their best player remains midfielder Leandro Barreiro, who recently won the Portuguese League Cup with Benfica. Danel Sinani of FC St Pauli celebrates scoring against SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Photograph:The Red Lions' long wait to qualify for a big tournament may soon end. In March, Luxembourg beat Sweden 1-0 in a friendly, having lost 8-0 the last time the countries met in 2017. A key factor in this remarkable improvement is the emergence of several outstanding youngsters, including teenage goalkeeper Tiago Pereira Cardoso, who recently broke into the Borussia Mönchengladbach first team. Mind you, experience of club football is not a precondition to playing for the Luxembourg national team. Exceptional 16-year-old Brian Madjo (Metz) made his debut in the victory over Sweden without making a first team appearance for his club − an achievement likely to be matched by fellow 16-year-old starlet Enzo Duarte (Borussia Dortmund) against Ireland.
Irish Independent
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Inside a chaotic press conference: Holtz's silence over selecting convicted domestic abuser Gerson Rodrigues speaks volumes
When Ireland last faced Luxembourg in an international friendly, it wasn't just the Del Trotter-type sheepskin coat which made their manager stand out, but the battles he fought over the airwaves. Luc Holtz is the second longest-serving international manager in European football, so clearly a man with experience. Before Ireland last visited Luxembourg, he said that Stephen Kenny's team had somehow abandoned their principles and reverted to a 'British' style of play, while after the game – a 3-0 win for Ireland – he hit out at the 'unsporting behaviour of the staff of Ireland' at the final whistle.
Irish Independent
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Inside a chaotic press conference: Holtz' silence over selecting convicted domestic abuser Gerson Rodrigues speaks volumes
When Ireland last faced Luxembourg in an international friendly, it wasn't just the Del Trotter-type sheepskin coat which made their manager stand out, but the battles he fought over the airwaves. Luc Holtz is the second longest-serving international manager in European football, so clearly a man with experience. Before Ireland last visited Luxembourg, he said that Stephen Kenny's team had somehow abandoned their principles and reverted to a 'British' style of play, while after the game – a 3-0 win for Ireland – he hit out at the 'unsporting behaviour of the staff of Ireland' at the final whistle.
Irish Examiner
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'Hopefully everyone will have their time to shine' - Hallgrimsson looks to strike balance against
Ireland's rookies will get their time to shine against Luxembourg but Heimir Hallgrimsson won't compromise the need to finish the World Cup preparations on a high. Back-to-back wins over Bulgaria in March were followed by an impressive showing against Senegal on Friday when Ireland came within eight minutes of beating the nation ranked 19th in the world. Those numerals are opposite for the second part of the double-header. Luxembourg may be 91st in Fifa's rankings but their sole victory in the last 11 games was a notable one, slaying Sweden in March. Luc Holtz's side are in the news locally due to the manager continuing to select Gerson Rodrigues despite the star striker being convicted of domestic violence against his former girlfriend Emily Boland. Protesters in attendance at Friday's defeat to Slovenia were forcibly removed, with the federation subsequently issuing an apology for the heavy-handedness. Hallgrimsson doesn't intend overhauling his team in the final audition for the qualifiers kicking off against Hungary on September 6. They also face newly crowned Uefa Nations League champions Portugal and Armenia in a six-match sprint campaign from September to November. Josh Honohan, John Patrick Finn and Max O'Leary are in line to make their debuts. 'The purpose of this camp was to look at new faces and we will make some changes, even though we were really happy with the performance against Senegal,' said the Icelander. 'Hopefully everyone will have their time to shine but we'd like to keep some consistency too and build on what we've been doing well. 'I think we probably played one of our best games as a team and we don't want to miss that in the game against Luxembourg 'As everybody knows, this World Cup campaign comes and goes really quickly.' Repeating the good aspects from the Senegal game and eradicating some of the lapses that cost them late on is the manager's prioriy. 'We are growing as a unit,' he asserted. 'We are saying the same thing over and over again, probably boring for the players to listen to because we are saying the same thing over and over and I have said before that it's basics first before details. 'The excitement comes from that. We can feel that we are growing every time we play. 'Being comfortable against Senegal was one step taken. We can have the same against Luxembourg, so it shouldn't be up and down performances. 'Consistent performances are what we need. 'Luxembourg could have scored more goals against Sweden, so I wouldn't look at it as a shock to the nation if we would not get a good result here. 'A win here would be really good for us at this stage. I hope nobody is taking them lightly.'
